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Scourge
What at first looks like a Jack the Ripper copycat, takes bizarre turn after bizarre turn as more bodies are found, and the only suspect gives them trouble. Summary When a spree killer commits four brutal murders in 24 hours, the Detectives canvass the streets searching for signs of a madman who exclaims paranoid schizophrenic and twisted religious rhetoric while committing his crimes. Things are made worse when no one can find any connections or pattern to the four murders. As the public cries out for justice, a suspect (Daniel Varney) is caught, and with the help of his wife, the detectives wade through the religious trout. As the case is finally looking like it is going somewhere, they learn a shocking truth which would likely change the course of a now, much too public trial. Plot The detectives are on the search for a spree killer who is responsible for the death of a prostitute, a promising young woman, and a husband and son. They soon discover that a man named Daniel Varney is responsible for the murders after he turns in a bloody check, but it is soon discovered that he is mentally unstable, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, because of a severe case of syphilis that had damaged his brain. Benson told his wife that Daniel has syphilis that eradicated his entire mind. His case was so advanced that he probably might have picked it up long before he met Paula. Daniel's wife didn't know that he had syphilis because the life insurance company (which he applied for coverage during a medical exam) didn't inform him about it. His syphilis is so advanced that it's incurable and has destroyed the moral center of his brain. Paula Varney got an answer from the company, confirming that they knew that Daniel had long-period syphilis. The CEO of the life insurance company is arrested for reckless endangerment as he didn't inform the health department about Daniel Varney's communicable disease, both of which would have led to his treatment and cure before it was too late and prevented the carnage he caused (which, at the time the disease was originally caught, would have taken no more than one dose of penicillin). A deal is made by A.D.A. Cabot forcing the company to report any and all communicable diseases to both the health department and the families concerned; as well as settle with the Varneys and families of Daniel's victims, even though it will cost them millions of dollars. Daniel is found not competent to stand trial, because of the irreversible disease and he is placed under custody of the office of mental health, to be committed to a secured mental health facility until he is competent to stand trial, which will likely not happen before his death due to the advanced state of the disease, as well as the irreparable damage that it has already done. Cast Main cast * Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler * Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson * Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch * Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot * Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola * Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen Recurring cast * Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky * Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner * Kevin O'Rourke as Defense Attorney Sam Tiffany * Tom O'Rourke as Judge Mark Seligman * Brian O'Neill as Chief Sullivan * B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang * Frank Deal as Defense Attorney Don Newvine * Lou Carbonneau as CSU Technician Harry Martin * Kent Cassella as Detective Palmieri Guest cast * Karen Allen as Paula Varney * David Chandler as Malcolm Hunt * Donna Mitchell as Mrs. Lindberg * Jim Weston as Quentin Lindberg * Richard Thomas as Daniel Varney * Cortez Nance, Jr. as Koenig * Liza Lapira as Rebecca Chang * Tasha Lawrence as Honey the Hooker * Rosalind Brown as Sally * Anthony Spina as Street Vendor * Kes Kwansa as Kabral N'Cuma * Kofi Boakye as Sekou Obeng * Bobby J. Brown as Uniform #1 * Sourabh Chatt as Souvenir Shop Owner * Nick Freni as Morales * Jason Furlani as Norman Fredricks * John Hartmann as Clerk * John McGinty as Uniform #2 * Brian Starr as Crowd Member #2 * Jack McCormack as Captain Molloy * David Roya as Joey * Floyd Resnick as Crowd Member #1 * Bernadette Quigley as Jean Weston * George T. Odom as Foreman References New York Ledger; Cote D'Ivoire; Jack the Ripper Quotes Background information and notes * Deleted scenes from this episode included a scene in which Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson receive a promotion. Stabler goes up from Detective 2nd grade to Detective 1st grade, and Benson goes up from Detective 3rd grade to Detective 2nd grade. *Scourge is the last SVU episode to air before the . As a result, this is the last episode to feature the World Trade Center in its opening credits due to its complete collapse during the attacks. Episode scene cards Category:SVU episodes